A few recent pictures

The weather has been rainy this weekend, so Asher and I took a trip downtown yesterday to check out the New Children's Museum.  It's not as interactive as the one in Denver, but we had fun playing for a bit and Asher had a chance to practice his guitar playing and sing some songs:

Earlier in the week, we also spent a fun evening at the Science Center.  Asher spent a lot of time being a firefighter and putting out fires, and throwing balls around the kids area.  As is our custom, upon leaving the science center he ran around Balboa Fountain several times, pausing occasionally for pictures.

We had great weather last weekend while Nana was in town visiting, and took a trip up to Rancho Santa Fe for the day, and spent some time playing outside.  Below, Asher practices for his motorcycle driving test - only another 13 and 1/2 years before he can get his license!

Asher narrowly escapes getting eaten. Repeatedly.

One of the few downsides to living in San Diego compared with Denver is the increased occurrence of shark attacks.  For some reason, they are primarily directed toward Asher:

Having narrowly survived a few such attacks just the other day, Asher was also viciously attacked by a giant saber tooth tiger!

Fortunately, like lizards, flat worms and starfish, Asher is able to quickly regrow body parts, allowing him to play with seals, hug baby wooly mammoths, and pilot helicopters.  Definitely a busy schedule!

And, of course, he finds plenty of time to sit on the bench with Mark Twain, and do a bit of reading.

Asher's Adventures in San Diego

San Diego is an awesome city when you are two! Even the zoo has construction equipment to build a new elephant enclosure area.

The Science Center allows you to travel in space--first hand! Asher is transferring from one dimension to another...preferably one with a lot more Legos. Obviously, it's a frightening place without building blocks!

Sea World specializes in marine animals, but bearded lizards want your attention as well.

The Air and Space Museum allows for flight--and combat!

The New Children's Museum gives you a chance to relive some of television's finest moments--including mimicking Dumb Donald from Fat Albert.

It's not ALL learning--there is some occasional sand digging with Dada. When Mama permits, of course.

Sharks and llamas and goats, oh my!

A new city means lots of new places to explore.  The most important place: somewhere that serves caffeinated beverages, so that Mama and Dada can keep up with Asher.  Having solved that issue, we have been out exploring the many museums and attractions that San Diego has to offer.

Balboa Park - named after famed Spanish explorer Vasco Nunez de Park - houses the San Diego zoo and a number of other great museums, and has a nice fountain and lots of areas for Asher to run around.

The San Diego Zoo is enormous, and has all sorts of fun animals to watch and pet (even if you can't ride them).

We have also spent several days at SeaWorld - in addition to the orcas, Asher is especially fond of the sharks.  He has declared that almost any museum could be improved by the addition of said animals - his favorite?  The Air and Space and Shark Museum.  Also, who knew that SeaWorld had llamas?

Asked to give his verdict on San Diego so far, Asher replied:

How Asher and I got to San Diego

Aaron's new job takes us to San Diego, California!  Before we left, we needed to celebrate Aaron's birthday with some pancakes. The wise owners of Snooze decided to branch out from Denver to...you guessed it. Awesome pancakes await you in CA.

Aaron started work in January, leaving Ash and I to pack and wrap things up. Being the master mover, there were no worries on that part. However, my immune system pitched a fit and decided I needed to neither speak, hear or nor breathe once Aaron left.  Thankfully, Nana and Papa flew out to help, along with my wonderful friends in Colorado pitching in.

Illness wouldn't stop our road trip, however. (Btw, mountain elevation changes with a double ear infection sucks. Wouldn't recommend it.) We overnighted in Moab, Utah our first night. We stopped by Arches National Park on our way back to 1-70.

My master traveler: "Balanced Rock, smile!"

Delicate Arch, as brought to you by a Utah license plate:

Next night was Vegas. We were very touristy, catching the fountains at the Bellagio, the shops at the Venetian and devouring chocolate at Serendipity.

Then, home to San Diego! (More pictures will be posted soon.) I have to hand it to my little guy. We had a great time on our road trip. 

We're in San Diego!

More to come, but here is Aaron and Asher at Sea World!

Legos!

Grandma and Grandpa sent Asher his first Lego set, and he's been busy building spaceships, airplanes, firetrucks, hammers, hockey sticks, and giant towers.  We're still working a little bit on the concept of structural integrity, but so far none of the legos have ended up in the toilet, which is more than we can say for the checkers in our Connect Four game.

A little more Christmas

A few more presents were waiting at home for us after we got back from St. Louis, so we spent a nice evening by the fireplace reading and playing Monster Bowling.